Federal Consolidation Made Even Simpler

January 15, 2005 -- NextStudent, a Phoenix-based provider of student lending services, announced this week the launch of their latest tool to make college funding simple: electronic signature for Federal Consolidation Loans. Now, instead of returning the signed application by mail, borrowers simply sign the form electronically, shaving days off the application process.

Upon launching electronic signature service, NextStudent loan application submissions have spiked, proving that borrowers are interested in a better way to manage the loan application process.

"When customers use the electronic signature option, their applications can be processed immediately," says Don Fenstermaker, chief executive officer at NextStudent. "We authenticate the signature right away, so borrowers never lose the time it takes to mail forms back and forth."

In celebration of its new electronic signature , NextStudent is offering a special rate on Federal Consolidation Loans. For a limited time, borrowers in their grace period (the six-month period between graduation and the beginning of loan repayment) can take an additional .375% off NextStudent's already low interest rates. This means borrowers could pay rates as low as 1.25%, the lowest of any consolidation product on the market.

"With consolidation, student loan payments could be as much as 60 percent less than the total of the original, separate loan payments, and the entire balance could be thousands less if graduates consolidate during the grace period and they take advantage of the additional 0.375% savings," says Fenstermaker. "Borrowers can use the money they save to pay down high-rate debt such as credit cards and other loans."

It's easy to qualify for a NextStudent Consolidation Loan, too. There are no credit checks or co-signers required, and there are no application fees. Borrowers can apply online or call a NextStudent Education Finance Advisor for help in completing the application.

"Our motto is 'college funding made simple' and with our electronic signature and super-low rates, there's simply no easier way to consolidate federal student loans," adds Fenstermaker. "We just launched the service last week, and already customers are telling us we have the fastest and most convenient process they've ever seen."

Borrowers can learn more about Federal Consolidation Loans at www.nextstudent.com.

About NextStudent
NextStudent helps students and their families find affordable ways to pay for college. NextStudent has a portfolio of education lending products and services including an online scholarship search engine, low-cost federal student loans, parent loans, private loans and student loan consolidation programs.

The NextStudent Scholarship Search Engine, one of the nations' oldest and largest scholarship search engines, is updated daily, available free of charge, completely private - and represents over 800,000 scholarships worth $2.8 billion. For more information about NextStudent, please visit their website at www.nextstudent.com.

Federal Consolidation Made Even Simpler

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